What If
by Yondaime-dono
Summary: What if we're completely wrong about Itachi? Oneshot from Itachi on what really happened that dreadful day when a blood red moon rose over a falling clan...rated for violence.


**_What if:_**  
by Yondaime-dono

I was the best.

For years and years, I had heard about the power of the Uchiha clan, the greatest clan of ninja in all of Konohagakure. I watched and heard the tales of Uchiha Obito...the young prodigy of the Uchiha clan who put in no effort, and still was making his way through the exams with ease. Many of my family said they saw the same potential in me.

But I wouldn't have it that way. I focused myself on my training, doing the exact opposite of Obito. Where Obito was a loud-mouthed show off, I was a poker-faced warrior who never showed his hand unless neccessary. Where Obito walked with ease, I ran. I breezed my way into chuuninhood. I became famous for my ability. People said my name in the same breath as the Sannin...and even the Hokage.

But things all changed when I was 14. I was an ANBU captain, and being so had made me privy to information many in the village knew little of. The 3rd Hokage looked at me as a person who could someday be the 5th...so he began working with me, attempting to get to know me.

It was he who mentioned to me the true reasons for Orochimaru's untimely exit from Konoha. Not to mention the rest of the Sannin. Unfortunate..had they been here, the 4th may not have had to die. Anyway, he mentioned Orochimaru's quest for immortality, and effective godhood. As he spoke, I quickly put together why I was being told...Orochimaru's quest would lead him to one conclusion.

He needed the Sharingan. The Uchiha were in danger.

The Hokage looked out of the window, and the window reflected his blank gaze to my eyes. "Itachi...I have a very bad feeling about this."

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He was right, I found out 2 weeks later. I had teased Sasuke earlier that day as he asked me to teach him shruiken throwing. I would have normally, but I was busy. I had requested a meeting with the 3rd to discuss Orochimaru in full...and find out what it would take to defeat someone like that. A couple of really bad dreams had my mind on full alert, and apparently the Hokage could feel my paranoia in the air.

"You seem to be on edge about something...what's wrong, Itachi?"

"Hokage-sama...do you have any information about where Orochimaru went?"

"Eh..Orochimaru. Itachi...why? Don't go after him. He's not worth it."

"What do you mean?"

"There's no point to sending our ninja after him. He will probably come back...but it will be on his own time. There are only 3 people who could find him."

"I'd assume you're one of those."

"Yes...myself, Tsunade, and perhaps Jiraiya...if he put his mind to it."

"Then why don't you? He's an S-class criminal--"

"and there are more than 20 S-class criminals in the world. If I leave this village to hunt for one, I leave it open for the others to attack. These criminals are beginning to organize...I will take no chances. And in case you didn't notice, I don't exactly know where Jiraiya or Tsunade are either."

I frowned inside, yet my poker face remained the same. "Is there anything more that you can tell me about him?"

The Hokage took a puff from his pipe, then slowly exhaled. "He is a very goal-oriented man, and he probably will go after the Sharingan. Unfortunately, Itachi...if he was to come for it, he would be able to find a suitable host."

I sighed, my poker face unflinching. "Let him come. He will not succeed as long as I exist."

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It's unfortunate that I misjudged him. I thought he would come, take one Sharingan user, and escape. I never would have thought....

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It was a cold night in March...nearing the beginning of spring, though no one would have noticed by the temperature. Uchiha Itachi made his way back towards the Uchiha Square from the Hokage's place, attempting to locate his brother along the way. _I need to apologize to him for earlier. Even if my excuse was valid, I shouldn't treat him that way._

Suddenly, his senses alerted him that something was direly wrong. Scanning the area, his nose picked up a strong scent. _Blood. And lots of it. _With a start, he blazed a path to the square as fast as he could. With mindnumbing agility, he leaped to the top of the tallest thing he could find, and accessed the situation. The scene that presented itself before him horrified him.

A smirking, white-faced man was blazing his way through the village, assaulting anyone and everyone with shruiken, kunai, and blades. _Orochimaru!_ Itachi's sharingan activated themselves in his anger, and he focused on the man, preparing to charge in for the kill. The man turned around with a sly smile, and intently stared back at him. A long snake like tongue escaped the man's lips, and wrapped itself around the sword the man was holding...cleaning the blade...

Before Itachi could move, he heard another noise...a yelp. Quickly, he tilted his head...and looked directly into the eyes of his brother. The look of confusing shock on the boy's face...Itachi quickly bolted after Orochimaru, attempting to forget the confusion Sasuke's face had shown.

Itachi quickly figured out where the sennin had gone...directly into his own house..._my parents..._He had only looked away for a couple of seconds, and he trusted that his parents could hold their own for at least that long.

A blaze of wind made its way into the house as Itachi sped his way through. Making his way to the staircase, he leaped onto the side wall, running up the side of it and backflipping up to the second floor. With no time to waste, he quickly kicked open the door to his parents room, and--hearing no noise--made his way to the inside.

Itachi's eyes slowly adjusted to the lighting of the room...the glare from two large swords reflecting into his eyes. His father was facing Orochimaru, Sharingan in full effect, and an intense look of anger on his face. Itachi quickly scanned the rest of the room...and found the reason why.

His mother had a large gash in the middle of her neck.

Everything in Itachi wanted to scream at Orochimaru, but something held everything in check. With balled fists, he turned to the snake. "You. Face me, coward."

Orochimaru smirked, then spoke. "The legendary Uchiha Itachi. You shall be quite the catch."

Itachi looked down at his feet for a moment, listening as Orochimaru continued. "Yes...I came here for you...but what good would your power be to me if there was an entire clan with the exact same abilities...now no one will be able to subvert my plans."

Slowly, the eyes of the Uchiha raised up...and the blood red intensity of the Mange Sharingan revealed itself. Itachi's fists clenched and twitched..."You...will never take me alive..."

Orochimaru sighed. "You can try to escape if you wish..."

==chop==

A giggle escaped from behind Itachi. "Too late." A hand had jabbed a pressure point on the side of his neck, and totally incapacitated him. With no chance of recovery, Itachi dropped harmlessly to the ground...

==poof==

...and was quickly replaced by a log. Orochimaru quickly backflipped to his original position, easily avoiding the two kunai that dropped from above and watching them get stuck in the floor. Itachi dropped from the ceiling, and Orochimaru smiled, rattling off hand seals as fast as he could.

Itachi waited a moment, then began his own. Orochimaru's eyes widened..._this kid's seals are faster...FAR faster than mine! _In a moment, 5 Itachis surrounded Orochimaru, and yelled in unison. "Katon! Gokyakuu no jutsu!"

A moment later, the entire center of the room engulfed in flames. Or so it seemed. Orochimaru's charred corpse in the center slowly turned into a pile of sludge. Itachi's father turned to the mass of gunk. _These two are amazing...to pull off a kawarimi in that situation..._

Suddenly, Orochimaru came flying through the door Itachi had destroyed earlier. With a yell and a gasp, he soared into the room, landing right on his butt. Quickly, he crawled up to his feet...as Itachi entered the room once again. For a moment they made eye contact...Itachi standing still and poker-faced as ever...Orochimaru calculating his next move....

With no hesitation, Orochimaru leaped out of the window.

Itachi considered going after him, but knew better. "He's too fast...I won't catch him." Quickly, Itachi measured the options, and realized that this was the doom of his clan. _Sasuke is too young to serve Orochimaru's purposes...but..._

He quickly turned to his father, who was now looking over his mother's body. Itachi positioned himself near the body and took a knee, and looked into his father's eyes. "Father...he will return. And next time, he'll go after you." The elder Uchiha silently looked down at his loving wife, and shed a tear.

"Itachi...I am ready when you are."

Itachi took a deep breath and struggled to keep his expression blank. _I'm sorry father...but you are not strong enough to stop Orochimaru...he would take you and become invincible._ Convincing himself of this fact, Itachi quickly took his father's own blade from the man's hand, and pierced it through his father's gut.

Itachi did it without visible remorse, for he knew that would only make him an easy target. Still yet, he could smell the blood of his father all around him. But what happened next, he had not planned upon.

"Brother?!"

_No...Sasuke...now I have to kill you too..._ "You were foolish to come here, little brother..."

Suddenly, an idea popped into Itachi's head. _Sasuke is too young for Orochimaru to use right now...he has no experience. But...what if he's good enough by the time he's ripe for picking..that he can defeat Orochimaru?_

Itachi grimaced. _There aren't any practice runs here...he'd only get one shot at knowing. But...what if he surpasses me? Then he's guaranteed to be stronger than Orochimaru...._

Itachi was a master planner, and he quickly put together a plan that would end all others.

_With my father dead...it is only he and I left...the only people Orochimaru can steal the secret from. If he takes Sasuke early, I'll destroy him. If he tries to take me, he knows he'll fail, so he will not even attempt that. So my mission is to make Sasuke strong...and there's only one way I can think of that will get through his thick skull._

Itachi used the Tsukiyomi technique. Yet, instead of showing Sasuke what actually happened, he replaced ever vision of Orochimaru with one of himself. The young boy screamed at the torture of watching his family die at the hands of his brother. "Sasuke...if you wish to kill me, hate me...." _yes brother, kill me...and end my torture. Take the smell of blood from my hands...and end Orochimaru's plan forever."_

He never found out if he succeeded, however, because he quickly had to escape the village before anyone else discovered the carnage. He went directly to the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama."

"Itachi-san...why are you here?"

"Orochimaru has struck. My clan is destroyed...by his hands and my own."

The Hokage had seen the possibility of such a thing happening, and sighed. "It's unfortunate this could not be stopped. You will not be able to stay here after this, Itachi...you know this."

Itachi nodded, and the Hokage continued. "Well...there's a possible salvage for you...remember I said the criminals were beginning to organize? There is an organization called Akatsuki that we are attempting to keep an eye on.....they are a group of S-rank criminals..." the Hokage frowned and looked Itachi in the eyes. "And from the looks of things, you would fit right in."

The Hokage had stuck the nail in the coffin. Itachi's poker face remained blank, yet his hands twitched violently, and the tears running down his face told the story of pain. _I'm sorry for everything I've done...but there's no turning back now..._

Itachi never stopped smelling the blood.

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And there you have it. It's an interesting possibility, isn't it? This is just a one shot I did on some semi-free time..sorry if it seems a bit thrown together or anything. This just all of a sudden popped into my head. Itachi chooses to become the lesser of two evils, and then is placed as a spy in the Akatsuki...and the greatest clan's ultimate defender becomes a legendary S-rank criminal the likes of which the world has never seen....

Opinions? Complaints? Comments? Feel free to review!


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